Two singer songwriters meet for the first time. They have a day to compose a new tune. Possible? You bet! Learn the craft of songwriting with Ben Sollee and Erin Mckeown as they explore the depths of their creativity and emerge with an evocative new song.

Ben Arthur, our intrepid songwriter-in-motion, and his talented audio/video team from Dubway, travelled to the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas to document what songwriters do best: write songs!

The Dubway crew first rounded up the very talented cellist/songwriter/performer, Ben Sollee. Next, they wrangled in the extraordinary folk/rock singer/songwriter Erin McKeown. Then they set up a guerrilla, hi-tech recording studio in a rented condo and – using Pro Tools and a collection of quality mics – documented the process of birthing a new song.

The songwriting process is both elusive, demanding and often frustrating. So when you add time-pressure to the mix, well... it becomes downright insane. This course is designed to give you an inside look at the craft of songwriting and the trials and tribulations of creativity under the musical microscope. Watch as Erin and the two Bens literally put their heads together to meet the challenge. You will learn a lot about songs, collaboration and recording in less-than-desirable, non-studio situations! You also see how Al Houghton and Mike Crehore take the song back to their Dubway Studios in New York to enhance the final production.

So, sit back and watch this songwriting docu-reality course and learn the art and the craft of conceiving and recording a new song... all in a few hours!

This course focuses much more closely on the process of songwriting than the other course in the series I've seen (Songwriting with with Sean Rowe). It is quite an unusual songwriting process: 3 writers creating a song in 3 hours. But it is still relevant to more standard situations, just in a rather condensed way: initial ideas, discussion, elaboration, discarding, arranging. I think it could be helpful to songwriters in getting their own process moving. And the song these three produce is not bad at all.

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Daniel wrote on December 14, 2014

Great to see behind the scene of a song creation and what have been done to make it on time. Very nice.

(101)

Ren wrote on November 14, 2014

This tutorial is a must listen, for anyone that intends to listen to a MPV tutorial. Song Craft? "k{no}w"!!!
Creation Craft is more like it! WOW, Unique!!!

(104)

Rachelle Lang wrote on November 12, 2014

The collaborative was the best that I have seen in this series. It showed the creative process from beginning to end. It also showed how a small idea can morph into a masterpiece. As I have written in each of my reviews thus far in this series, this is very inspirational. It makes you want to get up and write some music.

(15)

R. Stull wrote on September 8, 2014

This course demonstrates several approaches to creative songwriting by collaboration under time and technology constraints.

(11)

Martin Novak wrote on May 27, 2014

Inspiring video. It would be great to have a deeper insight into the mixing techniques used during the process as well. Love the song:)

(10)

BHamester wrote on January 29, 2014

It's quite interesting to watch another artist form of composing. Everybody has a different way to start the creative process. I recommend.

(88)

Scitscat wrote on September 30, 2013

Excellent! Want to see what it's like behind the scenes writing a song? This is it!

(1)

Gaurav Dagaonkar wrote on July 19, 2013

This course is interesting cuz it actually depicts the challenges one can face in co-writing a song with other songwriters, especially those with different musical backgrounds.
Ben Sollee and Ben Aruthur clearly approach songwriting from different paradigms and it's great to see Erin almost serving as a moderator/bridge between the two. They come up with a nice song, though given more time I'm sure the trio would've come up with something more concrete.

(1)

Anthony wrote on July 14, 2013

I find the Songwriting With Ben Sollee and Erin McKeown videos quite fascinating; and their writing process is truly inspiring. There is much to learn in writing a song, and this is a good basis.

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